


The Summer's End

by TetsukiSyu



Category: Camp Buddy (Visual Novel)
Genre: Being Lost, Feelings Realization, Japan, M/M, Modern Era, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23640673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TetsukiSyu/pseuds/TetsukiSyu
Summary: This is a fan fiction story based on the Camp Buddy universe, following the worst ending of Hiro Akiba.Set in Tokyo, Japan 2 years after Camp Buddy's story ended. The canonical relationship in this fanfic is Hiro Akiba/Keitaro Nagame, though in worst endings, the two of them didn't end up being together. Since Tokyo is the de facto capital city of Japan, it's only natural for the story to take place in Tokyo after the worst ending of Hiro Akiba's route.2 years after the event of Camp Buddy, Hiro's mother still didn't recover from her long-term illness. As a result, Hiro is still in the capital, busy with his studies, student activities while taking care of his mother with his aunt. Hiro is yet to find a new one for himself, while still trying to realize and accept the fact that his longing for a relationship with Keitaro beyond pure friendship was already fruitless when the ending event of Camp Buddy took place.Since I'm not a native speaker of English and this is my very first try in writing a fan fiction, this will serve as a single chapter fan fiction *for now.*
Relationships: Hiro Akiba/Keitaro Nagame
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	The Summer's End

The dusking sun in November left a streak of orange in the campus. It feels innocent, tranquil and peaceful as students usually leave schools earlier than usual in Friday’s afternoons. The university is by no means in lack of any student activities and clubs, but since technically everyone is already an adult when they started new lives here, teachers and professors trust students to arrange activities and events on themselves, as they should.

Inside a classroom lying in a corner of the student building, Hiro was reading a recipe book titled _“Your First Spice Curry.”_ One could easily tell that he’s really focused on the book, but rather than carefully reading through the steps, it looked like he’s only browsing the pictures as his eyes quick moved through the pages.

A stainless-steel deep container was shaking periodically on the gas stove in front of Hiro, emitting boiling sounds from time to time, in stark contrast to the somewhat distant noises from passing trains outside the campus.

“Why…why do these onions get burned so easily…”

A pony-tailed girl frustratedly murmured. The fairly thick black frames of her glasses make her seem just like those so-called nerds who would be more than happy to spend a whole day reading novels. She was standing next to a skillet that was sitting on another gas stove, within which were a huge amount of fined chopped onions—burned chopped onions.

A short-haired girl standing right next to the pony-tailed girl peeked at those burned onions in the skillet, “Oh god…it sure doesn’t look recoverable to me.”

The pony-tailed girl huffed, “Well duh, they are almost like chocolates right now. Of course they’re not recoverable.”

She then sighed deeply, “How many times have I already failed in caramelizing these onions…”

“Don’t you think it will be a good idea to ask Akiba?”

“Akiba?” The pony-tailed girl peeped at Hiro, “I don’t know…”

“Why not? I mean he’s the best in our club, isn’t he?” The short-haired girl gave the other girl a weird look, as if she were speaking in an alien language that is not decipherable.  
“It’s just…” The pony-tailed girl paused, then breathed a short sigh again, “Never mind. Maybe you’re right. I’ve been stuck at this part for nearly two hours already.”

She then turned off the heat and walked toward Hiro. The short-haired followed her steps.

§

“Akiba?” The pony-tailed girl asked awkwardly as she approached Hiro, “Do you have a moment?”

Hiro immediately lifted his head up as he turned his focus from the book to the two girls standing before him, “Y-Yes?”

“I-I was wondering if you can teach us how to properly caramelize the onions…”

Hiro raised an eyebrow, “Onions?”

“Y-Yeah. I always end up burning them. No matter how hard I try, how careful I am, I just couldn’t get that perfectly browned onions like those pictures on the book.”

“Well, maybe you can just show me then.” Hiro closed and put down the recipe book as he started moving to the pony-tailed girl’s gas stove.

And as a skillful cook as Hiro is, it didn’t take long before Hiro realized what happened to the girl’s cooking.

“Uh…did you use high heat instead of medium or low heat?”

The pony-tailed girl seemed surprised by the question, “I think so. Why?”

Hiro couldn’t help but giggled, “You can’t just use high heat to caramelize onions! I mean of course you can, but it’s a lot more difficult, and they will easily get burnt.”

“But I thought there are lots of moisture in onions?” The pony-tailed girl was perplexed.

“They are, but they get burnt easily as well.”

Hiro put the skillet aside, and put another empty frying pan onto the gas stove. He then quickly dripped some oil into the pan, while turning to high heat.

Without even measuring, Hiro put a variety of whole spices into the frying pan, “The process of caramelizing the onions has to be done with medium to low heat, but in the beginning, in order to let the flavor of spices quickly sink into the oil, it’s easier to do it with high heat.”

As Hiro shook the frying pan a little bit, his sights moved from the frying pan to the surrounding area, like he was looking for something.

“Do you still have chopped onions left?”

“O-oh…,” the pony-tailed girl collected herself after getting lost in the sight of Hiro’s cooking for a while, “Y-Yes, I have. Here.”

Hiro examined the so-called “chopped onions,” then cackled again.

“They are too large. You should have cut them smaller.”

“But the recipe only said chopped onions!”

“Well, finely chopped onions, that is.”

The pony-tailed girl clearly was frustrated and rolled her eyes, “How am I supposed to know that!”

Hiro laughed, “Hahaha, it’s fine! Here…”

He picked up a chef knife from the table and started finely chopping the onions with blazing speed as the two girls watched him with astonishment.

He then dumped the finely chopped onions into the frying pan and started frying them with the spices. A few seconds later, Hiro turned the heat to medium low and kept the frying pan still.

The pony-tailed girl couldn’t help but asked, “Shouldn’t we stir the onions a little bit?”

“We should, but only every 3 to 4 minutes. If you keep stirring them, they won’t get properly caramelized.” Hiro said as he spread the onions evenly inside the frying pan.

He then continued, “The duration will get shorter and shorter, though. When the moisture get evaporated, eventually you will have to stir them every 1 to 2 minutes.”

Almost staying silent for the whole time, the short-haired girl finally asked, “So…when we get that brown color, we can then add the meat?”

“Yeah,” Hiro grinned, “Just watch out that you don't burn the meat though. It will be a pity if the onions get caramelized perfectly but the meat get burnt.”

The pony-tailed girl rubbed the back of her head, “But when do we add ground spices? Should we add them before the meat, or after the meat?”

“Doesn’t matter that much. I would stir them in and fry them with the ingredients after the meat get browned a little bit though.”

The pony-tailed girl sighed, “Guess I got it all wrong…”

Hiro laughed, “Hahaha! Like I said, it’s fine! Making spicy curry is a little bit more challenging since normally we will just use packaged roux. But trust me, it’s rewarding and totally worth it!”

Suddenly, Hiro noticed the clock on the wall.

He was shocked, “Wait, it’s 6 already?”

“Yeah. Well it’s been over 2 hours since we started cooking around 4, so…” The short-haired girl added.

“Oh no…I think I have to go now.” A worried expression showed on Hiro’s face.

“It’s OK. We will deal with the cleaning.”

“Thanks! I’m sorry about that! I promise next time I will cook something for you two!” Hiro smiled as he started washing his hands and the knife.

“Are you going to look after your mom today?” The pony-tailed girl curiously inquired.

“Actually, no,” Hiro took off his apron and hanged it on the wall, “I’m going to have a dinner with my friend today.”

The pony-tailed girl gasped, “Oh, then you’d better hurry. Keeping people waiting is not a good thing.”

“I know right? Hahaha! Thanks for cleaning up for me. I should leave now.”

Hiro grabbed his jacket and walked toward the door, “See ya next week!”

“Bye-!” The two girls waved their hands as Hiro left the classroom.

§

After Hiro took his leave, the short-haired girl asked, “Well, that wasn’t too hard, was it?”

The pony-tailed girl was confused, “What? What do you mean?”

“I mean, he’s really good at cooking, and he’s really nice and energetic too, isn’t he?”

“Oh, you mean Akiba? Yeah…I guess so…”

The pony-tailed girl sighed again with a bit of frustration, “I could barely keep up with his pace. The way he cooks…It’s so polished and it’s like there aren’t any unnecessary steps. Not like me…”

The short-haired girl nodded, “Yeah, he’s definitely the best in our club. I doubt our teacher is better than him.”

She then continued, obviously with the most important question she wanted to ask, “So what’s stopping you from asking him for helps?”

“Uhm…” The pony-tailed girl hesitated, “I don’t know. I always have some kind of feeling whenever I talk to him.”

“Really? And what’s that? Don’t tell me you have a crush on him!” The short-haired girl giggled.

“No, it’s not like that!” The pony-tailed girl eeped, “I mean, sure he’s kinda cute, but that’s not the reason I feel uneasy when talking to him. And it’s impossible that I would like him, at least not in his current state…”

The short-haired girl raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

The pony-tailed girl explained, “Whenever I talk to him, he always gives me a feeling that…as if there’s hole in his heart. And his grinning and smile…he’s not smiling at all.”

“I’m confused. What do you mean by he’s smiling but he’s not smiling at all?”

“It makes me feel that he’s forcing himself to smile and laugh, even though he doesn’t want to.”

The short-haired girl still was bewildered, “Really? Does that mean that something is bothering him recently?”

The pony-tailed girl shook her head, “No…ever since he transferred to our school 2 years ago and joined our club not long after that, he’s been always like this.”

“Oh…I never knew that…” The short-haired girl rubbed her chin, “I know you always have this kind of super sharpness that you always notice people’s feelings without them telling you, but…”

The pony-tailed girl concurred, “Yeah, that’s why I seldom talk to him, because it’s painful to see someone like that for such a long time. That’s why I didn’t even ask him about why he proposed we made cookies before, and this time, curry. I mean it’s nice, but why cookies and curry?”

“He said that he used to cook curry rice for his best friend. And he often made cookies for him too. Not only because those cookies are his mother’s recipe, his best friend loves them as well.”

The short-haired girl chortled, “He said that brings back memories. Aww…isn’t it cute?”

But to her surprise, the pony-tailed girl was not smiling at all.

“Uh…did I say something wrong? Why the serious face?”

The pony-tailed girl stammered, as if she was trying so hard to speak out those words, “You know what?”

“I don’t think he really meant it when he said that person is his best friend.”

§

* * *

§

Generally, it’s difficult for anyone to obtain a huge room or place for pretty much everything—from living to daily activities—in Tokyo. One has to either pay a considerable amount of monthly rent, or as a compromise, share common places with others. Same goes for schools as well, as are indicated by the obvious fact that universities in Tokyo usually don’t cover large areas.

Luckily, the university Hiro’s studying in isn’t one of those universities. Located outside 23 special wards of Tokyo, Hiro’s university enjoys a relatively large campus. Not only each college has their own research buildings, there is even a dedicated building for student clubs and activities. Since some cooking ingredients like sugar and flour sometimes can be really heavy, the cooking club managed to acquire a classroom on the 1st floor. It’s not the closest classroom to the entrance of student building, but lying in a corner does provide enough spaces for the members to participate in the activities with less to be worried about, since if it’s closer to the entrance, moving ingredients and utilities could possibly affect other people, should they come to the building at the same time.

Due to such advantages and easy access, when Hiro transferred to this university, he didn’t think too long before deciding to join in the cooking club, despite that he already knew his stuffs very much, thanks to his mother. And because of this, before joining in the club, Hiro usually cooked meals and snacks for his mother using his aunt’s kitchen, but right now he often just used the kitchen that got set up in the classroom and stored the food inside a thermal container before reaching the hospital and giving them to his still ill mother.

Cooking has always been Hiro’s favorite thing. Although, he knew too well that it’s probably impossible for him to share the food he cooks with a certain person anymore.

Still, he felt obliged to keep this hobby as long as he could. Not only because he learned all these stuffs from his mother, but also he felt that it’s probably one of the few things that still made him feel connected to someone.

Normally, after classes end, Hiro would immediately take the train to go to his mother’s hospital inside 23 wards, but today was different—he had an appointment with a friend he met on the dating app.

At first, Hiro was just bored. While he absolutely had no complaints in taking care of his mother, sometimes he still found that he had nothing better to do aside from studies, cooking and video games. Of course, sometimes when there were anime or manga events, he would try to take part in those events during his spare time, cosplaying some of his favorite characters, but such events wouldn’t be held every day. As a result, after knowing that such apps do exist for a long time, he finally downloaded one of those apps to his smartphone.

As he somehow expected, after he uploaded his profile picture and set up his personal profile, he was not in short of messages coming from other people. Nonetheless, again just as he expected as well, those messages usually more or less were about sex, despite he already wrote in his profile that he was not looking for a sex partner. Some people would blatantly barged into his message logs, leaving extremely straightforward messages as to whether he was available that day, and whether he had a place or not. Some people, on the other hand, would first greet and introduce themselves politely, trying to leave good impressions as much as they could; but usually not before long, they would start showing their interests in intimate interactions and even lewder ones like phone sex. In the end, both of these 2 kinds of people really didn’t make any differences.

Tokyo is a huge metropolitan city. In the jungle of concrete buildings, variant neon lights and mesmerizing skylines, it’s all too easy to get lost in the urban vibes. In a society that is constantly changing and consists of nothing but dynamics, sometimes people just want to take a break from smotheringly fast paces, enjoying sensual moments with someone and without any promises or burdens.

It’s not like Hiro was opposed to the idea or he didn’t crave for such interactions with someone. It’s just that every time when such impulse appeared inside him, he would immediately see the image of someone inside his head.

Someone he’s been deeply in love for over 21 years. Someone he was, he is, and he will always be craving for. Someone he would willingly sacrifice anything for, if he had a choice. Someone who means everything in his world. Someone who has been an inseparable and indispensable part of his whole life.

And…someone he failed, in pursuing for Hiro himself, in cherishing the long-lasting trust built between the two of them, and in telling that person what he really thinks about him during the very last days of the camp they both participated in 2 years ago.

Therefore, Hiro rejected and ignored all those messages. Or at least, until one person showed up.

It only takes 20 minutes from Hiro’s city to Shinjuku, one of the most populous and crowded area in Tokyo. Probably because it was Friday night, more people were taking the train back to Hiro’s city than to Shinjuku, since there are also many people who live in the city and work in 23 wards.

Although it’s a relatively short ride, still Hiro couldn’t help but open up his smartphone and started reading news articles and browsing the Internet out of boredom. Normally Hiro would be playing mobile phone games when he took the train. However, after cooking one of _that person_ ’s favorite food once again, he just wasn’t in the mood of playing games right now.

Suddenly, a notification appeared on his screen as he swiped down the notification bar. The name on the notification indicated that it’s from a person called “Ogawa.”

_Good evening, Akiba! How’s today?_

Hiro immediately tapped on the notification, opening up the message window and started typing.

_I’m good. I’m still on the train though. Are you there already?_

_Yeah. I just got here like 5 minutes ago. Guess I will just find something to do before you arrive._

Knowing that he’s being late, Hiro soon felt a sense of guilt arose.

_Ack…Sorry I’m late again. I was helping my friends cooking curry today._

_Hahaha! Again? You just couldn’t help when it comes to cooking, could you?_

_And curry again? Guess you really like it, don’t you?_

_It’s not that simple…Never mind, guess you can just say that. Hehehe_

_Well, why not? I like curry, too. But anyway, we’re not going to have curry tonight._

_Hey, just send me a message when you arrive, OK?_

_Sure._

Hiro swiped down the app as he closed the window. At the same time, he couldn’t help but think to himself.

_“Wow…Ogawa really is a good person.”_

Hiro met Ogawa about 2 months ago on the app. At first, Ogawa introduced himself to Hiro, saying that he’s interested in cooking as well just like Hiro and that he wanted to become a friend with Hiro, but Hiro didn’t believe it since he thought that Ogawa might just be like others, who politely greeted him then soon got to the point as if it were some sort of business. But after initially rejecting Ogawa’s invitations a couple of times yet still finding that he kept inviting nonetheless, Hiro eventually agreed to have a dinner with him. After that, during these 2 months, Hiro ended up having dinners with him from time to time.

Ogawa was not like anyone Hiro met on the app. Although he admitted that he was charmed by Hiro’s appearance at first, he still showed a huge interest in knowing Hiro and the hobbies they shared afterwards. Whenever they had dinner, they would not only enjoy the food, but also try to analyze and think about how the food was made and what seasonings were used during the process of cooking.

For the very first time since the end of Camp Buddy, Hiro felt that he could finally make a new friend who's like himself, and this is something Hiro didn’t think is possible after things didn’t really go well in the end of Camp Buddy.

When Hiro arrived at the station and quickly sent a message to Ogawa as he walked past the ticket gate, he immediately saw Ogawa was already waiting for him outside the gate.

Ogawa smirked when he saw Hiro, “Took you long enough.”

Hiro giggled while tried to argue, “Hey! I already told you I was helping my friends!”

“Oh, yeah?” Ogawa gave Hiro a leer, “Who knows. Maybe you’re just too into it that you can’t even leave the gas stove. Good try.”

Hiro pouted slightly, “Hmph. I don’t want to argue with you.”

Ogawa burst into laughter, “Hahaha! I was just teasing you!”

Hiro squinted, “Meh. I hope it’s good because I didn’t eat anything since lunch. I’m super hungry.”

Ogawa took out his smartphone and swiped on the map, “Well I’ve never been to that restaurant before, but I heard kamameshi there is really good.”

“Oh, kamameshi? I’ve always wanted to make that! A pity we don’t have iron pots in my aunt’s home and in my school.” Hiro opened up a shopping app and started checking the prices as both of them made a turn around the corner, “Well they are cheaper than I thought.”

“Yeah, they are not expensive. Maybe you can just buy one for you and your family.”

Hiro breathed a short sigh, “Nah. My mom is always in the hospital and my aunt is always busy. If I cook, I probably have to eat them up myself and it will be boring.”

Ogawa gasped, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“It’s fine. It has been years after all, so it doesn’t really bother me.”

Ogawa rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment, then continued with a tone of awkwardness, “A-Anyway, you look good on this jacket. Did you pick it yourself?”

Hiro smirked confidently, “Of course I am! I always buy my clothes myself!”

“Well you do have a good sense of fashion. I’ll give you that.”

Hiro grinned, “I know right?! Not like Keitaro! I swear he’s really bad when it comes to fashion! Hahahaha!”

The moment after speaking out the name, Hiro immediately realized that he mentioned a name he shouldn’t mention to anyone and gasped.

“Ack…”

“Keitaro? Who’s that?” Ogawa raised an eyebrow, “Oh, is he the best friend you’ve always been talking about, who gave your that hairpin?”

Hiro sighed, knowing that it’s futile to try to cover up anything now, “Y-Yeah. You can say that.”

Ogawa’s face suddenly brightened, “Oh, really! You never mentioned his name!”

He then continued his inquiry, obviously reluctant to give up the chance.

“Will you tell me about how he gave you that hairpin right now?” Ogawa asked as he took a peek on Hiro’s hairpin.

But to his surprise, Hiro just looked aside, as if something was bothering him.

“N-No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“O-Oh…” Ogawa again awkwardly tried to emit a few other words as he realized he might have asked something he shouldn’t have brought up, “It’s just over there! You see the red banner?”

Maybe right now the only thing they should do is to have a nice meal. Ogawa couldn’t help but think.

“Yeah! I saw it! Wow, it looks amazing!” Hiro’s eyes lit up as he saw the banner of the restaurant and some pictures of the food on the restaurant’s outer wall.

Ogawa couldn’t help but thank that fortunately Hiro was not that type of person who would just fall into emotions and had to take lots of time to get out from the inner turmoil.

“Well, last time you did criticize that seafood restaurant pretty harshly. I sure don’t want to disappoint you this time!”

Hiro chortled dearly, “Not my problem! The way they handled the mackerel was all wrong! The fresh flavor of fish was all gone! The seasoning was not balanced and it was too salty! Plus, they probably roasted the fish for too long. That made it lose all the moisture inside!”

“You really know how to cook a mackerel, don’t you?”

“Of course! I cooked one for my best friend when we went to the beach after all! And I have bro-Aiden to be my best tutor!”

This time, Hiro was smart enough to not show any signs of frustration or awkwardness on his face.

As the two of them enter the restaurant, found their reserved seat and suited themselves. Hiro immediately proposed that he would bring some juice on his way back from the toilet. When Hiro left the seat, Ogawa couldn’t help but to start pondering on things he found on Hiro.

Hiro absolutely had no problem mentioning every single person and things that happened back in that summer camp called “Camp Buddy,” except for one person—that is, the person Hiro referred to as “Keitaro,” who’s most likely Hiro’s best friend. Every time when Ogawa brought up different topics, Hiro almost could immediately mention another person he met in the camp and how that person had something to do with the topic itself.

For example, when Ogawa invited Hiro to a sculpture exhibition held in the museum, Hiro rejected, but not without telling Ogawa that while he’s not really interested in arty stuffs, his friend Hunter is really into such things and is an excellent artist himself as well. When Ogawa brought up sports, Hiro said that there was a person in the camp named Natsumi who’s very good at swimming, though back then Ogawa could easily notice a sense of jealousy from the way Hiro talked. When they watched a program on TV of which the purpose is to prank the celebrities and singers, Hiro also mentioned that another guy called Yoichi really liked to prank the others, and he even stole Hiro’s clothes once when Hiro went to take a bath. When they once talked about how people write less nowadays since the advent of smartphone, Hiro again mentioned that he was surprised to find out that Taiga, who presumably is yet another person Hiro met in the camp, likes writing and owned a journal as well, and he still couldn’t stop feeling cringed whenever he thought of how mean Taiga, Eduard and Lee were during the first few weeks in Camp Buddy.

Apparently, Hiro cherished the memories he got in the camp very much. So why every time when Keitaro, who’s supposed to be Hiro’s best friend, was brought up, it’s so obvious that Hiro would suddenly felt down for some reason?

As a gay, Ogawa’s hunch told himself that Hiro must have felt something very different about his best friend. But, it’s been 2 years since the end of the camp. Could it be that Hiro’s feeling didn’t change at all after all this time?

Nevertheless, it’s not something that can just be asked and get an answer, especially when knowing that it would possibly upset Hiro, and Ogawa knew it very well.

Thus, Ogawa decided that he would refrain from talking about it with Hiro at least for now, even though his curiosity was already killing him.

After Hiro got back, it was not before long when the waiter started serving their food. The meal was really good, especially the kamameshi. Looked like the reviews on the Internet were telling the truth. It was cooked with mushrooms, soy sauce, rice wine, mirin and dashi. It was not something subtle as, say French cuisine, but the authentic and earthy feel and the pleasing scent all made the food more appetizing. While enjoying the meal, Hiro and Ogawa even talked about the similarities between kamameshi, risotto and paella. Hiro said that because of his mother, most recipes he learned focused on traditional and Japanese cuisines, and while he knew about risotto and paella, he never actually tried to make those before. Ogawa, on the other hand, said that as a person who lived alone, there’s barely any chance for him to make those complex food, especially after a whole day’s work.

§

Before long, the two of them had already finished the meal. Even though they had a pleasant conversation during the meal, Ogawa still couldn’t get away from the thought as to what actually happened between Hiro and his best friend.

Despite having known him for 2 months already, Ogawa just felt that the more he got to know Hiro, the more that kind of feeling that Hiro was still holding back in a lot of things intensified.

“Thanks, Ogawa! That was amazing! Now I think maybe I should just send a message to bro-Aiden and suggest they add kamameshi to Camp Buddy’s future menu!” Hiro grinned as the two of them walked out from the restaurant.

Ogawa beamed at Hiro, “You can’t be serious. That Aiden you’re talking about can’t possibly know how to cook every single kind of food.”

Hiro laughed dearly, “Hahaha! That’s because you don’t know bro-Aiden! He could do everything!”

The night in November had started to get a little cold. Hiro folded his arms behind his head as he walked down the street and watched the already dark night sky at the same time.

Ogawa was hesitant, but eventually he decided to speak out.

“So…Akiba, what are you looking for on the dating app anyway?”

“Hmm?” Hiro raised an eyebrow, looking at Ogawa’s face with doubt, “Why?”

“It’s just that you never talked about it.”

“Uh…I was bored. That’s probably it.” Hiro rubbed the back of his head as he said with a tone of uncertainty.

Ogawa rubbed his chin, “So…does that mean you are not looking for anything beyond normal friends?”

Hiro looked aside and gasped, “No! I mean, yes! Ack…how do I put it…”

 _“Here we go again,”_ Ogawa couldn’t help but think to himself.

Although most of the time, Hiro is an easy-going person and it doesn’t take lots of effort to get along with him, still, the more Ogawa knew Hiro, the more often he felt that there was some kind of a barrier between him and Hiro—or more precisely, Hiro himself and anyone else.

 _“It’s now or never.”_ Deep down inside Ogawa’s heart, he determined that this might be a good chance to get to know Hiro better.

“Because I was thinking…how about you come to my place tonight and play some video games? You know Switch games are boring when playing alone.”

He looked at his watch, “Besides it’s only 7:45 right now, I’m sure playing for an hour won’t be a problem, right?”

“…”

Hiro didn’t even say a single word, as if he was lost in his own thoughts again.

“We’ve known each other for over 2 months already. But most of the time we were just having meals together. I barely have any chance to know you better.”

“…”

“How about you tell me more about the camp? Like you only mentioned how mean Taiga and his two friends were in the beginning, but you didn’t really go into details, did you?”

“…”

“Or if you really don’t want to talk about it, we can talk about other things as well. After all, that camp was already 2 years ago, right? Maybe you can tell me what you want to do next summer!”

Hiro stammered a few words after a long pause, “…Y-Yeah.”

“So…I take this as you agreed?” Ogawa inquired, but Hiro didn’t respond.

 _“Ugh…this isn’t working…”_ Ogawa was frustrated, _“But at least he didn’t refuse.”_

A long silence between the two of them ensued for the rest of the time on their way to the station. Although Hiro didn’t refuse, but he didn’t say anything either, and clearly he was thinking about something. However, Ogawa didn’t know how to break the silence, as he’s afraid of upsetting Hiro or bringing up something Hiro didn’t want to talk about.

Although, he absolutely had no clues about what was it that Hiro really didn’t want to talk about. It’s all foggy and blurry.

_If only there were some kind of a lighthouse…_

§

As they walked past the ticket gate and approached the train, Hiro finally broke the silence. He took out his smartphone and swiped on the screen, as if he was checking some messages.

Ogawa stopped and looked at Hiro, “What’s the matter?”

Hiro still was looking at his phone as he typed on the screen, “Nothing. The train is already there. Do you want to get aboard? I just need to reply to this message…”

Ogawa didn’t think too much, “OK. Just make sure you board the train in time. Shinjuku is a busy station after all.”

He then found two empty seats facing the train door and got comfy with himself as he sat on the seat.

But to his surprise, Hiro was still typing and swiping on his phone.

_“What are you doing, Akiba?”_

Ogawa couldn’t directly speak to Hiro at this distance, so he quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket, opening up the app, and started typing in the message to Hiro.

But the voice from the speaker had already ended its announcement.

_What are you doing, Akiba? The train is going to leave soon._

A small text indicating that the message had been read immediately appeared next to the text Ogawa sent to Hiro. A few moments later, a message from Hiro literally brought nothing but confusion to Ogawa.

_I’m sorry. I can’t._

Ogawa was perplexed. But just about he was going to stand up and left the train to talk to Hiro, the train door already started closing, which left him no choice but to send another message to Hiro.

_Damn…I guess you have to take the next train. You know the closest station to my home, right?_

But the next message he received was nothing he expected.

_I’m sorry, Ogawa. I just deleted the dating app. After the train leaves, I will delete your LINE as well. I hope you can do this for me, too._

_“That didn’t make any sense.”_ Ogawa was both frustrated and a bit annoyed because he totally couldn’t understand why Hiro suddenly reached such conclusion. Nevertheless, the moment he saw Hiro’s face from the window and noticed Hiro was looking at himself as well as the train started moving, he realized the reason behind and what he just did.

Outside the window, there’s a bitter smile on Hiro’s face, within which there’s nothing but sorrow and pain. The hairpin on Hiro’s hair shined in reflection, in contrast to the unfathomable depth of sadness in his expression.

It didn’t make any sense, but it all made sense now.

As the train started accelerating, watching Hiro’s figure got farther and farther, somehow Ogawa finally understand why Hiro always had that kind of face whenever his best friend was brought up. He didn’t understand the details, as Hiro never talked about it, but one thing he knew for sure was: it must take years for someone to build up such depth of feelings, and such grief must have come from an extremely traumatizing experience.

He couldn’t even imagine what Hiro had went through, what happened 2 years ago, and how he managed to live through all this time until now with that kind of scar left in his heart.

But none of these mattered now. The train took a turn, and even before Ogawa realized, Hiro already disappeared in the corridor of lights.

§

* * *

§

As the train left the platform, Hiro lowered his head, his hands balled into fists.

_How am I supposed to live without you, Keitaro…_

_How am I going to accept anyone, when you’re the only one I think of every single day…?_

_I miss you so much, Keitaro... Why do I never receive any messages from you?_

Tears silently dropped from Hiro’s tightly closed eyes, as he nibbled his lower lip, trying so hard to not break into tears.

_I’m sorry Ogawa._

_There’s no next summer for me._

_Because my summer already ended in that year._

§

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> The worst ending of Hiro's route surely is one of the most heartbreaking endings. Hiro's feeling for Keitaro, which has already lasted for over 19 years, didn't bring them together, and I doubt as deeply cares about Keitaro and loves him as Hiro does, it will be extremely unlikely for Hiro to just forget or give up this feeling so easily, even though in the end of Camp Buddy, the memories they shared and the things they did together in the camp turned out being fruitless and futile.
> 
> While I'm a die-hard fan of perfect endings, I do think that worst endings leave lots of rooms for imaginations and thoughts. And it will be more interesting if someday in the future, despite ending up the worst way during Camp Buddy, they could still make up with each other. Thus this fan fiction. It took me a lot of time to write a fan fiction in a language that is not my mother tongue, but I enjoyed depicting the emotions and details a lot. Hope I will get better in writing and write more fan fictions in the future. And who knows, maybe a sequel for this short chapter.


End file.
